On Tuesday 11 June, at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the signature of €1.4 billion - €1 billion in loan guarantees and €400 million in blended financing - in new agreements with partner banks to attract private sector investment to Ukraine.
“Our partner banks will be able to apply for EU budget support, when they invest in equity funds active in Ukraine”, explained Ms von der Leyen in her speech. She believes that this will help banks to eliminate some of the risks associated with equity investments.
These are the first agreements signed with international and bilateral public financial institutions under the ‘Ukraine Investment Framework’, the investment arm of the EU’s €50 billion ‘Ukraine Facility’ for the period 2024-2027 (see EUROPE 13394/19).
These agreements will benefit private companies, including small and medium-sized enterprises, municipalities and Ukrainian state-owned enterprises, and will focus, among other things, on the repair, rehabilitation and development of energy infrastructure, which has been heavily targeted by Russia military aggression.
See the full list of programmes: https://aeur.eu/f/clu
The President of the Commission also pointed out that “around €1.5 billion from the windfall profits will become available in July. 90% of these funds will go to defence, 10% to reconstruction” (see EUROPE 13413/21). The G7 Summit in Italy, in mid-June, should also enable the leaders to examine in greater detail how Ukraine can benefit even quicker from the proceeds of the frozen Russian assets, said Ms von der Leyen (see EUROPE 13417/9).
She also announced that a further tranche of €1.9 billion from the Ukraine Facility would be disbursed by the end of the month.
In addition to these financial announcements, Ms von der Leyen called on the international community to give Ukraine the means to defend itself. Referring to the ongoing Russian attacks on Kharkiv, which has already been besieged and rebuilt, she explained that “Kharkiv and Ukraine need all our support”. “Putin must fail. Ukraine must prevail. And we must help Ukraine to rise from the ashes and be master of its own future. This means, first and foremost, that we must provide Ukraine with the means to defend itself”, she summed up.
Protecting the skies over Ukraine
The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, emphasised the importance of anti-aircraft defence systems to prevent destruction. “Russia’s greatest strategic advantage over Ukraine is superiority in the sky. It is missile and bomb terror that helps Russian troops advance on the ground”, he recalled. The country faces almost 100 air attacks every day.
“It is only by depriving Russia of this advantage that Putin will be able to envisage a just peace. Air defence is the answer”, added the Ukrainian President, calling for the supply of additional defence systems.
A request supported by Olaf Scholz. According to the German Chancellor, what the Ukrainian army needs most is ammunition and weapons, particularly for air defence. Berlin has decided to deliver a third Patriot air defence system.
While, according to Mr Zelensky, Russia has destroyed half of Ukraine’s electricity production capacity, i.e. 9 GW, Ms von der Leyen pointed out that the EU had released almost €500 million for urgent repairs, provided 1,000 more generators for urgent power generation, and that almost 8,000 solar panels would soon be arriving in Ukraine. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)